


Confessions

by ni21



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, Relationship(s), fluffy fluff is fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 03:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ni21/pseuds/ni21
Summary: Robin has doubts and asks for clear words.
Relationships: Nico Robin/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	Confessions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZoRobin discord server](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ZoRobin+discord+server).



> Hello and welcome!
> 
> This is part of a little giveaway in the [ZoRobin discord server](https://discord.gg/azmUH8xrc4). My wonderful new friends asked for
>
>> Kiss on forehead
> 
>   
> 
>
>> Zoro finally admitting his feelings to Robin
> 
>   
> 
>
>> Something that is emotional-focused. I know both Zoro and Robin are not emotional people but i love to think if they're
> 
> Also, a given for all the fics that come forth from this little exercise:
>
>> Hug with Zoro being the tiny manlet he is against her
> 
> I hope you enjoy this one and it's what you had hoped! 

Roronoa Zoro was not a man of many words, the ones he said however were deliberate and carefully chosen. Most of the time. The times he wasn't being chewed out by their navigator for allowing her to trip or the times he wasn't fighting their captain over meat or the times his blades weren't locked with flaming feet.

If one asked Roronoa Zoro for an opinion, nowadays, it usually came after a bit of a pause. On important matters that is. She treasured that. That moment of thought, the respect for the question it conveyed, for the one asking the question. She always had. However, now that the pause was longer than she was used to, doubt was rising in her chest, making her throat tight in a way it hadn't been for years.

It was frustrating, mainly because she knew there was nothing to fear. Because she knew he was not only a man of few words but also of fierce loyalty and dedication. A man who did not waste time and effort on things he deemed unworthy to pursue. And she  _ knew _ that she was not unworthy.  _ Knew  _ that he would not spend hours of his training listening to her reading cheesy romance novels if he didn't appreciate her company. But unfortunately, she also knew that those little things he did for her he did for all of them.

He didn't mind any of them falling asleep on his chest, didn't mind hugging them close until they fell asleep protected from the horrors of their pasts.

If Chopper would ask him to get a glass of water he'd drop whatever he was doing to search for the kitchen. When Usopp sat at the railing, his legs hanging down the side of Sunny, staring out at sea with melancholy in his eyes, Zoro would not hesitate to clamp his hand around his shoulder to give him that bit of stability he needed at that moment. That bit of extra strength. That reminder that actually he already was very powerful on his own.

So, maybe, one couldn't blame her that occasionally she'd start to wonder. To doubt. That maybe the love she felt from him was just in her head. That maybe, their physicality aside, she was to him no different than the others. That maybe the years they'd already spent together, the tenderness he'd shown her had only been what he showed the others on a daily basis.

She did feel a bit guilty for putting him on the spot like this, after all, he'd given her no reason to doubt him. Never looked at another woman no matter how interested they were in the bars and taverns… The issue was he rarely ever looked at her either if they weren't up alone together in the crow's nest. If anything at some times he seemed more distant towards her than towards the others and she knew he did not want to hurt her so actually putting him on the spot like this was what he wanted. Right?

He sighed, one hand rubbing the back of his neck in what could only be uncomfortable insecurity.

Maybe, she should have chosen her own words more carefully. The time between the initial "The fuck, woman" and the labored sigh shouldn't be  _ that _ long, but… When he ignored her the best of the day only to… He really couldn't blame her for feeling that way. Even though she  _ knew  _ she'd never been just a plaything for him, at no point in their relationship. At any given time she'd always at least been a friend.

"You never believe anything you're told unless you can see the logic and agree with your heart and now you want words from me?"

"Yes," she agreed, as weird as it sounded now that he said it out loud. No, actually it made perfect sense, she had to see if his words would match what she knew inside.

He laughed. And she knew she'd be hurt if it was anyone else. He did not laugh  _ at _ her, never did. If anything he probably laughed about the situation, that the smartest person he knew and that normally knew anything was waiting for his answer.

"When one is walking through a wandering forest, the little creek is loud while the depths of the ocean are quiet. What is empty is noisy, what is full is silent," he explained and she could see Nami readying her fist on the other side of the deck.

It was adorable and charming in a way, the navigator had convinced her to talk to him in the first place but right now? Completely unnecessary. She flashed a smile at her over Zoro's shoulder and a gentle shake of her head. It wasn't like he didn't know the crew was there, could probably feel their burning stares on his back. 

She laughed this time. "Are you trying to tell me you love me?"

"That's what I said," he shot back, with no sign of flustered embarrassment, his eye unwavering locked with her's.

Yes, it's what he'd said. In that very cryptic way, he had sometimes that suited more a monk than the dorky grump he was most of the time.

"Just like when you use one candle to light nine others it doesn't mean it will burn faster or that you light them for the same reasons. The root of all suffering is the wish for more the way we hold onto things because one can only lose what he holds close."

Oh my. She ignored Sanji's cursing in the back, and saw the sadness in the one grey eye instead. She should have known. It's what it all came down to with him. That fear of loss.

She hugged him against her, 10 arms just to make him stumble and with her real ones cradling his head against her neck, nose, and lips buried in his seafoam hair, she knew.

His arms closed around her, held her in his loving, warm embrace, tighter than necessary but not quite tight enough.

Losing his childhood friend had given him his dream. The fear of losing all of them had made him exchange his life on Thriller Bark, the fear of losing them had prompted him to ask Usopp to leave him behind on Saboady and the very real danger of losing them had made him the man he'd returned to them two years later. She couldn't blame him, that he'd hold back getting something new to lose.

And over the hollering of the crew and the heartbreaking sobs of Sanji, she murmured against the crown of his head how she wouldn't leave, no matter how different their relationship was compared to what they had with the others. She put her lips against his forehead, hoping it had the same calming effect on him as it had on her after their escapades in the crow's nest. That it conveyed the same tender love and adoration, the same care– not every candle was lit with the same intentions.

"It's not like I can't clone myself if all else fails," she joked against his skin and he pushed away to look up to her.

A grin on his lips that, despite the grey threading through his hair, made him look young and boyish and full of mischief.

"That supposed to be a threat? Because if you want to take those clones for a test we don't have to wait for night watch anymore with everyone knowing."

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> The absolute biggest thank you to [Inu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inurshuh) who beta read this despite it being her NOTP. If you're into Zotash or Lunami or maybe Reylo make sure to check her out!  
>    
> And don't forget to join our [ZoRobin discord server](https://discord.gg/azmUH8xrc4) if you haven't already!


End file.
